Anchored in flood-prone areas in every American state are more than 2,500 sites that handle toxic chemicals, a New York Times analysis of federal floodplain and industrial data shows. About 1,400 are located in areas at highest risk of flooding.

As flood danger grows — the consequence of a warming climate — the risk is that there will be more toxic spills like the one that struck Baytown, Tex., where Hurricane Harvey swamped a chemicals plant, releasing lye. Or like the ones at a Florida fertilizer plant that leaked phosphoric acid and an Ohio refinery that released benzene.

Flooding nationwide is likely to worsen because of climate change, an exhaustive scientific report by the federal government warned last year. Heavy rainfall is increasing in intensity and frequency.

At the same time, rising sea levels combined with more frequent and extensive flooding from coastal storms like hurricanes may increase the risk to chemical facilities near waterways.

The Times analysis looked at sites listed in the federal Toxic Release Inventory, which covers more than 21,600 facilities across the country that handle large amounts of toxic chemicals harmful to health or the environment.

Of those sites, more than 1,400 were in locations the Federal Emergency Management Agency considers to have a high risk of flooding. An additional 1,100 sites were in areas of moderate risk. Other industrial complexes lie just outside these defined flood-risk zones, obscuring their vulnerability as flood patterns shift and expand.

The presence of chemical sites in areas vulnerable to flooding is a holdover from an age where the advantages to industry of proximity to rivers and oceans — for transportation and trade, or for a ready supply of cooling water — seemingly outweighed the risks.

“Waterfronts are changing as a result of sea level rise,” said Jeanne Herb, an environmental policy expert at Rutgers University who has researched hazards posed by climate-related flooding to industries in New Jersey. “More often than not, these are facilities are on the water for a reason,” she said. “So how do we make sure that there are protections in place? That’s the big question.”

Federal law does not explicitly require sites in floodplains that handle toxic chemicals to take extra precautions against flooding. Nor do most states or local governments have such requirements.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order in 2015 requiring planners of federally funded buildings, roads and other infrastructure to account for the impact of possible flooding from rising sea levels or more extreme precipitation. President Trump rescinded those rules last year.

The Times analysis focused on facilities on the federal toxic release database, which tracks sites handling chemicals that could be harmful to health and the environment if released. The list does not include properties like Superfund sites or wastewater facilities, or chemical sites where the predominant risks are fire or explosion, as opposed to toxic pollution.

The Times also examined reports of oil and chemical spills tallied by the National Response Center, which is run by the Coast Guard. Companies are required by law to report spills to the N.R.C., although that database has been criticized as incomplete.

Still, the data does provide a glimpse into the thousands of spills that occur across the country each year.

By the time the murky flood waters had receded from the sprawling Chevron Phillips chemical plant in Baytown, 34,000 pounds of sodium hydroxide and 300 pounds of benzene — both highly toxic — had escaped through a damaged valve. The plant, a joint venture between Chevron and Phillips 66, is one of many that filled the region’s streets with a stew of chemicals, debris and waste in the days after Hurricane Harvey and its torrential rains.

Employees later pumped some of the tainted water into 80 steel tanks. But most of the product “was lost in the floodwater,” David Gray, an Environmental Protection Agency spokesman based in Dallas, said in an email.

A Chevron Phillips spokesman, Bryce Hallowell, declined to give further details of the spill. He stressed that the plant “was at the center of this incredibly powerful storm.”

The chemical site lies in a moderate-risk flood zone, defined by the government as having a 0.2 percent chance of flooding in any year. It was at least the third time in three years that the Chevron Phillips facility blamed heavy downpours for chemical leaks.

The spills underscore the vulnerability of America’s coastal industries to rising sea levels and extreme weather. This is the case along the Gulf Coast because the country’s oil, gas and petrochemicals industries are concentrated there.

At least 46 facilities reported an estimated 4.6 million pounds of airborne emissions beyond state limits between Aug. 23 and Aug. 30, 2017, the week spanning Harvey’s approach and landfall in Texas. The Chevron Phillips plant also reported one of the largest Harvey-related emissions of chemicals into the air.

But even as flooding risks increase, chemical companies continue to build in vulnerable areas. A boom in plastics manufacturing has brought billions of dollars of investment to the Gulf shoreline. The Chevron Phillips site had been in the midst of adding a new $6 billion ethane processor, one of the biggest investments in the Gulf’s fast-growing petrochemicals industry.

Despite repeated flooding, the chemicals manufacturer still considered the site, at Cedar Bayou, to be “the optimal location” for its new ethane facility, Mr. Hallowell said. He declined to detail protections that have been considered or installed, or whether they were designed to withstand future floods.

When Tropical Storm Debby brought torrential rain to north and central Florida in mid-2012, it triggered a release of phosphoric acid from a chemical plant in White Springs that produces phosphates, which are used to make fertilizer.

Flooding knocked out the power supply to its pumping system, causing water mixed with chemicals to spill into a storm-retention pond, which eventually also overflowed into a creek that feeds the Suwannee River. Released in large quantities into the environment, phosphates and phosphoric acid can cause uncontrolled algae and duckweed growth, causing oxygen levels in lakes and rivers to drop precipitously.

“It was like the biblical flood,” said Mike Williams, a spokesman for Nutrien, which runs the phosphates plant in an area dotted with high-risk flood zones, defined by the government as having a 1 percent chance of flooding in any given year. The plant had prepared for the storm by lowering water levels at the ponds, but the flooding was “well off the charts,” he said.

Since then, the plant has invested in pumps and backup generators that would allow it to more effectively control excess flood water. Still, “the lesson learned is that every now and then there will be something that’s more than we planned for,” Mr. Williams said.

Floods, and the risks they pose to industrial sites, are not confined to the coasts or even to areas the government considers flood-prone.

Record-breaking rains brought flooding to wide swaths of Alabama in May, inundating storage ponds at a Sabic Innovative Plastics plant on the banks of the Alabama River. About 4,500 pounds of sodium hydroxide escaped into a tributary.

The same plant, which is not on land considered flood-prone under federal guidelines, had flooded in 2011, releasing 125 gallons of tetrachloroethylene, according to a cleanup agreement reached with regulators. Tetrachloroethylene is a carcinogen and can affect the nervous system.

Shelia Naab, a Sabic spokeswoman, said the plant had been inundated with “extraordinarily high levels of rain in a very short period of time” and that levels in its ponds had reached unprecedented levels. “We do not believe there was a significant environmental impact as a result of this incident,” she said. The plant has since updated a stormwater bypass that stops rainwater from overrunning its storage ponds, she said.

The flooding at Sabic underscores how floodplain designations may be increasingly outdated as rains intensify and weather patterns change.

Heavy rains in northern Ohio in June 2015 inundated Toledo Refining, near the banks of the Maumee River, causing a leak of several million gallons of wastewater from its treatment ponds. The site, run by PBF Energy, one of the country’s largest suppliers of transportation fuels and heating oil, also reported a release of benzene.

James Lee, a spokesman for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, said the leak was not thought to have reached major bodies of water. Toledo Refining did not respond to requests for comment.

“Companies need to think carefully about the risks of flood, and the increased risks from climate change,” said Tom Neltner, chemicals policy director at the Environmental Defense Fund. “Saying ‘We’ve always done it this way’ doesn’t work anymore.”

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:Originally posted by captaincrunch:

By the time the murky flood waters had receded from the sprawling Chevron Phillips chemical plant in Baytown, 34,000 pounds of sodium hydroxide and 300 pounds of benzene — both highly toxic — had escaped through a damaged valve. The plant, a joint venture between Chevron and Phillips 66, is one of many that filled the region’s streets with a stew of chemicals, debris and waste in the days after Hurricane Harvey and its torrential rains.

Employees later pumped some of the tainted water into 80 steel tanks. But most of the product “was lost in the floodwater,” David Gray, an Environmental Protection Agency spokesman based in Dallas, said in an email.

A Chevron Phillips spokesman, Bryce Hallowell, declined to give further details of the spill. He stressed that the plant “was at the center of this incredibly powerful storm.”

The chemical site lies in a moderate-risk flood zone, defined by the government as having a 0.2 percent chance of flooding in any year. It was at least the third time in three years that the Chevron Phillips facility blamed heavy downpours for chemical leaks.

The spills underscore the vulnerability of America’s coastal industries to rising sea levels and extreme weather. This is the case along the Gulf Coast because the country’s oil, gas and petrochemicals industries are concentrated there.

That plant is at a bend in Cedar Bayou. During the flood the bayou didn't follow the bend, instead it took a shortcut across the plant.
http://bit.ly/2Eq4nR8

There is something called the Ike Dike, which hasn't been built because a bunch of whiny little Republican cheapskates say "that it is simply too expensive (some estimates place the cost between $3 billion and $4 billion) and its efficacy is not established." Too bad it will never get built in time to prevent a hundred billion in eventual hurricane damage. But think of all the money that was saved by not building it! 4 billion!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ike_Dike

WASHINGTON – A major budget deal brokered by Senate leaders Wednesday was a long time coming, but it could sweeten the pot for the victims of Hurricane Harvey and other natural disasters.

The Senate agreement could provide nearly $90 billion in aid for Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and other states and territories hit by storms and wildfires. That would be about a 10 percent bump from the $81 billion disaster aid package passed in December by the House.

While the Senate package contains more relief dollars, it is still not as much as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and lawmakers in other storm hit areas would like.

Texas officials have estimated the damage from Harvey at upwards of $120 billion, and the new disaster bill, like an earlier $35 billion appropriation, directs resources to all of the disaster regions, including Florida and Puerto Rico.

Altogether, Congress has approved about $50 billion in aid so far to help in the recovery from Harvey and other natural calamities in 2017. The latest funding proposal would bring that up to $140 billion.

Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, has pushed for more money to be directed to Texas and the Gulf region hit by Harvey, though he did not publicly specify an amount.

In a floor speech Wednesday, Cornyn called the budget agreement "long overdue," saying the new aid package would "strengthen" the House-passed disaster bill.

Houston Republican John Culberson, who helped craft the House-passed disaster bill in December, said the additional spending in the Senate package could be a boon both for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and local property owners.

"That would mean property owners would get relief much more quickly and the Corps will have the money they need to finish every federally authorized flood control project in Harris County," he said

Good idea starting this thread G. Second must have lost his bookmark to the first one since it finally fell off the front RWED page after 6 months of him virtue signalling to himself on a daily basis. Let's see if he can keep this one on top until 2019!

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Good idea starting this thread G. Second must have lost his bookmark to the first one since it finally fell off the front RWED page after 6 months of him virtue signalling to himself on a daily basis. Let's see if he can keep this one on top until 2019!

And what is 6ixStringJack signaling? ("after 6 months of him virtue signalling to himself on a daily basis") That he's free floating soul, detached from a natural disaster that will repeat at irregular intervals until the American political process finally pays to prevent future disasters? I remember many occasions when 6ix whined about the cost, without ever taking note the damage was many times the cost that could have prevented the damage from ever happening.

There will be fire and brimstone and Earth will be destroyed!... in several billion years!-----------------------------------------
"Well, so long Earth. Thanks for the air... and what-not." -Philip J. Fry

Quote:Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Second must have lost his bookmark to the first one since it finally fell off the front RWED page after 6 months of him virtue signalling

You haven't seen the Black Mirror episode The Black Museum yet, have you?

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:Originally posted by Wishimay:

Quote:Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Second must have lost his bookmark to the first one since it finally fell off the front RWED page after 6 months of him virtue signalling

You haven't seen the Black Mirror episode The Black Museum yet, have you?

Lemme know when you do.

From The Black Museum plot synopsis: Parker grew tired of the stuffed toy and abandoned it, with Carrie’s consciousness trapped inside. The transfer of Carrie into the stuffed monkey was declared illegal. Carrie is still inside the stuffed monkey, since it is also illegal to delete her. When Fireflyfans.net gets deleted permanently, it won't be a crime or even a minor tragedy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Museum_(Black_Mirror)#Plot

The former Harris County jail — now used for county offices that are open to the public — has been flagged for fire code violations by the Houston Fire Marshal, the second county building this week to come under scrutiny for safety violations.

Red warning stickers were posted on the glass entry doors to the former jail this week after the Houston Chronicle began questioning safety at the nearby Harris County Family Law Center, a building that was pressed into service after Hurricane Harvey despite not having sprinkler systems or sufficient exits.

The former jail, at 1301 Franklin, does not have a sprinkler system either. Although it has long housed a small office for the district clerk, additional workers were moved in from the district attorney’s and public defender’s offices after Hurricane Harvey devastated other county buildings.

“WARNING,” the red signs state. “This building is not code compliant with Houston Fire Code 2012.”

City and county officials have steadfastly maintained the law center and the jail are safe.

“The official position of the HFD is that the City of Houston and Harris County officials have worked closely on this issue to assure public safety and to continue providing critical governmental services during the recovery phase from Tropical Storm Harvey,” Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña said in a statement.

But fire marshals continue to post warning stickers and insist that fire monitors walk the halls of the buildings and schedule special training sessions to develop fire-fighting strategies. On Wednesday, three district chiefs and their crews examined the seven floors of the Family Law Center, at 1115 Congress near San Jacinto, and scheduled a return trip Saturday to map out a strategy.

People who use the buildings said the heightened awareness was overdue, especially at the family law courthouse, which now houses 16 misdemeanor courts and is often packed when courts are in session.

“Of course I’m concerned — this is a disaster waiting to happen,” said Tucker Graves, president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association. “I know we had to go somewhere, but that probably wasn’t the place to go. That place was supposed to be torn down.”

Graves said he is worried the dangerous conditions will continue until 2019, when the 20-story Criminal Justice Center can be reopened after damage from Hurricane Harvey is repaired.

The Family Law Center had been slated for demolition and only a few offices remained. The courts and other offices were moved in after Harvey.
-----
There is no authority to red tag the entire county, like the Fire Dept did a building, telling the county it has a flooding problem it needs to fix now, not put off year after year because, you know, major floods are even rarer than major building fires. This building has never had a major fire. Why fix what ain't broken?

AUSTIN - Local and state leaders are moving toward a major, lengthy and costly overhaul of the region's flood defenses that includes regulating development, massive buyouts of flood-prone properties and flood-prevention projects that have been discussed for decades but never built.

Few of the initiatives will be complete before hurricane season starts in June, but nearly six months after Hurricane Harvey ripped through the Texas Gulf Coast and devastated the nation's fourth-largest city, leaders are seeking to address long-ignored shortcomings laid bare by one of the most intense rainstorms in U.S. history.

Gov. Greg Abbott says he can write a check for a third reservoir to better protect areas west of Houston from inundation as well as attempt to avoid the types of releases from Addicks and Barker dams that swamped Houston downstream during Harvey.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner wants to join Harris County in strengthening regulation on the region's rapid development to protect the city's population from floodwaters and alleviate the burden on taxpayers to repair and rebuild flood-prone properties.

Harris County leaders want a major bond issue - and a corresponding increase in property taxes - this year to pay for bayou drainage projects and, possibly, broad buyouts in flood-prone areas.

There's also broad support for legislation that would require buyers of property in reservoir flood pools, which are dry much of the time, to be notified of flooding risks; 30,000 homes have been built in the flood pools of Addicks and Barker, and many owners say they had no idea they were living in an area designed to hold water during times of heavy rain. More than 9,000 of those homes flooded during Harvey.

Some of the local response has been slowed as officials waited to see what Congress will be willing to fund, a logjam that started to break late in the week with the approval of nearly $90 billion for victims of this year's storms and natural disasters - much of it for recovery, not prevention. But state and local officials tell the Houston Chronicle they remain committed to broader improvements.

"I don't think we can stop future rain from coming down," Abbott said on a dry day earlier this month. "I do think we can rebuild this larger Harris County area in a way that will gather water and redirect water and expedite the flow of water in ways that will greatly reduce flooding."

In December, the Chronicle published "Developing Storm," a seven-part series that showed how the actions - and inaction - of the region's leaders had magnified the impact of Harvey through lax regulation of development and failure to fund prevention projects. Officials in the Netherlands, known for their flood-prevention success, said that while major programs can take decades to complete, the window to get the work started after a major disaster lasts about a year.

Support for higher taxes varied based on hypothetical amounts. The survey found that 19 percent would pay $12 more in property tax each year; 12 percent would pay $25 more; 15 percent would pay an extra $50. But 46 percent were unwilling to pay any additional tax. Eight percent didn't respond.

46 percent of Anglo Republicans, compared to 20 percent of Anglo Democrats, opposed any property tax increase. And many state Republican leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott, are pressing for property tax reductions.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

The first half of an anticipated $1 billion in federal grants to harden the Texas coast for future storms through infrastructure projects, home buyouts or elevations and other efforts is up for grabs, state officials announced Tuesday.

Houston, Harris County and others will need to compete for the funds and will need to provide a 25 percent match, with FEMA covering 75 percent of each project.

The mitigation dollars can be used broadly for drainage projects, reservoirs, detention basins, seawalls and channel improvements, as well as more targeted programs such as home buyouts and elevations.

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